


Embrace the stars, and conquer them.

by Werepirechick



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Galra Empire, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR IT, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Protective Siblings, Robots, SPACE IS SO COOL THOUGH, Siblings, Space Battles, Trans Character, Voltron au, War, after a lot of stress, bc canon did a shit job with space for tmnt in general, but that comes later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-09-27 20:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10048685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werepirechick/pseuds/Werepirechick
Summary: The universe is a very vast place, and a lot of it is in need of saving. Hundreds of planets, gripped by thousands of years of war and strife, with little hope remaining for a happy end. They need help, and soon.Thankfully, five siblings, two aliens, and a lot of ancient machinery are on the job.Or at least they're trying to be.





	1. Explanations please?

**Author's Note:**

> to kick it off, some don and raph meeting up again under interesting circumstances.
> 
> go check my tumblr, onthespectrumwriting, and my voltron/tmnt au tag for more info.

 

 

Maybe Raph should have stayed in the research and development division. It probably would have been less of a headache.

But, what could he do? Mysterious emails containing information about his older sister and father’s disappearance, summoning him to the garrison, and absolutely reeking of Donnie’s sneaky little hacker touch, could not be ignored.

He hadn’t seen his brother in a good while, either. He hadn’t seen any of his siblings, not since their father and sister left earth. Karai would probably give them all hell for losing track of each other- especially Mikey, who knew where he’d gotten off to- and Raph wasn’t sure if he’d fight the scolding.

Nah. He would. It was the principle of things.

It wouldn’t be fun, trying to figure out how to exist in the same space as his siblings again. Military rules or no, they’d find a way to start a fight. But this was for Karai and their dad, and figuring out why no one had even  _told_  Raph that his sister and father were missing. It felt unsettlingly like a thriller spy movie, all the secrecy and cover-ups.

So when Raph had gotten the email, containing what was probably a  _lot_  of stolen documents- he’d deleted it, twice over, packed his bags, and submitted a form to transfer into pilot training.

The transfer alone had been hard enough, and now Raph couldn’t locate Donnie  _or_  Leo. His eldest brother should’ve met him at the door, because Leo was a nosy motherfucker, and Raph thought Donnie would at least slink by to say hello. Instead, he hadn’t been able to find either, and he’d already been on base for a few hours.

Suspicious.

Donnie had said, in the email, that he’d been on base for a few weeks. That he’d been steadily sifting for new information about their missing family. Secretly. For reasons he hadn’t put into the email.

Raph honestly couldn’t believe that his techy brother had signed up for piloting, but it  _was_  for a good cause. He guessed that even Donnie, devoted as he was to his private research, would set that aside for this.

It would be nice if he would actually show up now, and maybe explain a bit more in-depth about just what the hell was going on.

Raph adjusted the collar of his new uniform, one that was a lot more constricting than the engineer’s version had been. Those things had room to breathe, and this one felt like a snake’s skin. Too tight all over.

A few other new initiates were milling around the area, the dorm rooms hallway, as they settled in. Raph had already dumped his bag out on his bed, so he figured he was unpacked enough for the moment. He could make it military grade order later. Right now he was hunting for his  _other_  missing siblings.

His eyes skipped from trainee to trainee, examining each one briefly. It was a good idea to get familiar with who he’d be spending the next few months of his life with, considering his circumstances for being on base.

He paused on one of the trainees.

A long braid went down her back, dark hair pulled tightly into it. A pair of black framed glasses perched on her nose, and they reflected the screen of the device she was typing on. She stood apart from the crowd, leaned against a wall. She seemed to be waiting for the people making noise in a room to be done. Probably so she could go back inside.

It took another second to match the person in front of him with the person in his mind, and then Raph figured out the girl was his brother.

_Oh what the actual fuck._

She- he glanced up from his device, and red eyes met Raph’s green ones. Donnie looked at Raph for a moment, nodded, and then seemed to conclude that was enough of a greeting.

Wow. No, it was so not. Definitely not.

Where the fuck was Leo? Why the fuck was Donnie without his binder? And were those  _extensions_  in his hair??

Raph marched over to his brother, grabbed Donnie’s arm, and started hauling him away. Donnie protested quietly, but didn’t pull hard enough to break Raph’s grip on his arm.

Raph pulled Donnie around the corner into an empty hallway, released his brother, and rounded on him to say, “You have exactly  _three seconds_ to explain what the hell is going on.”

Donnie blinked down at Raph. “Nice to see you to.”

“Oh- don’t give me that, Donnie,” Raph said. He gestured sharply at Donnie. “What the hell is all this. Why do you have extensions? Because you  _definitely_  didn’t the last time I saw you. Hell, for that matter, where the fuck is your binder.”

 _“Shhh!”_  Donnie hissed, glancing around them. “No one here knows about that! And I’m not Donnie right now, okay? It’s Tessa while I’m on base.”

Raph gave Donnie a look. “Tessa? Really?”

“Tessa Tello, to be precise.”

“Oh my god.”

“Hey, if you’re dark enough and have the right documents, people will believe anything.”

_“Oh my god.”_

Raph paced in a short circle, working on catching up on what was happening. “Okay. So you’re undercover. Obviously. Fantastic. Got it.  _Why_  though.”

Donnie crossed his arms, and looked away. “Because. Missing family and all that.”

“Yes, but why are you-” Raph gestured sharply at Donnie again. “-like  _this?_  We- we put a lot of work into helping you… you know. Why’d you go and undo all that?”

Donnie seemed to bristle, scowling at Raph. “It’s my body. My choice.”

Raph sighed, and turned to look at his brother again. “I know that. But… you were so happy. And everything that went on before that- I don’t get why you’d go back. You weren’t happy Don- Tessa.”

If Donnie wanted Raph to call him by his new name, he would. Felt weird in Raph’s mouth though.

Donnie kept scowling for another moment, and then his shoulders slumped. The careful mask over his stress and exhaustion lifted, and he looked a lot more like the brother Raph knew. “I know. I know it’s weird. I don’t like it either, but it’s for our dad and sister. Just until I find them.”

Raph grimaced at his brother, not liking how tired Donnie seemed. “How come you didn’t just register as a guy? There wouldn’t’ve been any issue with you doing that. Your papers are already all changed.”

Donnie shifted uneasily, and looked away from Raph again. “Um…  _weeeell…”_

Raph knew that tone. Uh oh. “D- Tess. What did you do?”

“I kinda sorta  _maaaaaybe_  got myself perma-banned from the base. And might’ve verbally assaulted a few people during that. Maybe hit a few too. Um. Yeah.”

Raph blinked. “Are you kidding me?”

“Would I be dressed like this if I was?” Donnie asked dryly. He sounded like he was attempting to cover up his embarrassment. “This hair is making me feel like I’m dying of heatstroke like all the time. And, god, I didn’t know how _frustrating_  makeup could be. I don’t know how Karai does it.”

Raph pinched the bridge of his nose. He left his brothers alone for a few months, and this is what happened. Leo cutting off almost all contact, Donnie going and hacking government files, and apparently assaulting government staff too, and who fucking  _knew_  where the hell Mikey had buggered off to.

“And people used to call  _me_  the impulsive one,” Raph grumbled.

“Shut up,” Donnie said. “They’d been lying to us all along about our dad and Karai. I was a little ticked off, alright?”

“Why did you have to come on the base for that anyways? Couldn’t you have- I don’t know- just hacked from afar? You usually do that. Why didn’t you do that?”

“I was upset, okay? Thinking straight is hard when you’re upset. And besides, the best way into the file system was direct uplink. Via a computer already a part of the system.”

“Why are you not in jail,” Raph asked, rubbing his temples. “ _How_  are you not in jail?”

Donnie adjusted his glasses, narrowed eyes glaring at something not there. “Because. They want to keep things quiet about dad and Karai. If they locked me up, they’d have to give a reason, and then the media would hear about them losing our family and Shini. I wouldn’t exactly have stayed silent, either.”

“Well, okay then. Fuck. Where’s Leo?” Raph asked, switching topics. Because, hell _,_  if things had gotten this bad, Leo  _had_  to have gotten involved already. “He should’ve come and stuck his nose into my business already; it’s been like three whole hours since I got here.”

“He’s… well…”

The change in Donnie’s tone made Raph’s older brother instincts twitch. He looked at Donnie, and saw a bit more slump had been added to his posture.

“I don’t think he knows I’m here,” Donnie said quietly.

Raph stared at him. “The fuck. How could he not? You’re like six feet now. How could he miss you.”

“He’s, um,” Donnie visibly swallowed. “He’s walked right past me. A bunch of times. I… I looked him in the eye one time, and he just… ignored me afterwards. I don’t think he recognizes me.”

Wow. What the shit.

“Bullshit,” Raph said automatically.

“No, really,” Donnie adjusted his glasses again. Nervously. When he’d had glasses as a kid, that’d been a nervous tick of his. “I’m back to not binding, and I do use a bit of makeup, and the glasses and hair and, uh, I’m pitching my voice a bit too-”

Raph grabbed Donnie’s hand, and stopped his brother from listing reasons why their older brother wouldn’t recognize him. “Dee. Donnie.  _Donatello.”_  That got Donnie to look at him. Good. Raph squeezed Donnie’s hand. “Hey. You okay? For real. I know this probably hasn’t been easy on you.”

“Do you need physical okay-ness or emotional okay-ness?” Donnie asked, a hint of grim humor in his voice.

“Donnie.”

“Fine. I’m not okay. Emotionally. This has been awful, and it really sucked that my own brother didn’t recognize me with long hair.”

Raph squeezed Donnie’s hand again. “Are you  _going to be_  okay?”

Donnie let out a long sigh. “When this is over, and our family is home, I’ll be okay.”

“Good.” Raph said shortly. He grabbed Donnie in a quick, tight hug, then let him go and started walking towards the hallway they’d come from. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find and punch our brother in the nose.”

“Raph- no! Stop it!” Donnie exclaimed, grabbing Raph’s shoulders and pulling him back. “What part of undercover and low profile don’t you get? The garrison doesn’t know me and Leo are related, or you and me for that matter!”

“He still should’ve known you! Crap on you head or not!” Raph said, pulling against Donnie’s grip.

“Oh my god- can you just-  _chill_  for like a minute! It’s fine! I’m fine with it!”

“No you’re not!”

“Maybe! But it’s for Karai and dad!  _Chill out!”_

“After I punch Leo, I’ll chill out all you want!”

“ _No!”_

_“Yes!”_

 

 

 

Raph didn’t get to punch Leo in the nose, but he really, really wanted to.

Even after Leo’s explanation of  _“I was just doing what I thought Donnie wanted me to. Keeping everything low profile.”_  and how it would’ve been dangerous for him to contact Donnie anyways, because the whole garrison was watching Leo,  _“-for months, and I haven’t been able to figure out why, and they wouldn’t tell me anything about dad or Karai either-”,_ but  _still._

Fucking asshole. Not even  _trying_  to tell Donnie he fucking recognized him.

Raph really wanted to punch Leo. He didn’t get his chance though, because-

-then they’d seen a space ship fall out of the sky, relocated their missing sister  _and_  AWOL brother, become fugitives, and found an ancient robotic cat. And then gone to space.

Raph honestly didn’t know he would’ve expected, five of the Hamato’s reuniting like so. Why was nothing simple with his family?  _Ever?_

Staying in the engineering division  _definitely_  would have been less of a headache.

 

 


	2. Apologize, idiot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo has some apologies to make after his mistakes with Donnie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more au whoop

 

 

The moment Leo walked into the cafeteria, and saw that not only Donnie was there, but  _Raph too,_  was the moment he about-faced, and started marching the exact opposite direction.

He did not need this.  _He did not need this._  The garrison was already watching him, and now he had two of his younger brothers to keep out of trouble too?

Donnie might’ve been helpful, even in his current undercover status, but Raph wouldn’t be. Raph’s talents lay with engineering and punching things- not with covert espionage.

Leo quietly despaired, and decided he’d be going hungry that evening.

If they all gathered together, the way his two brothers were, then someone would  _definitely notice._  The garrison probably already knew that he and Raph were related, same last name and all that, but Donnie had still been anonymous! What was Raph doing, blowing Donnie’s cover?

This was all going to go down the toilet, and every bit of Leo’s careful observations would be worthless.

He saw Raph the next day, during the assigning for new recruits into the garrison. Leo, standing apart from the new cadets and with his own senior ones, met Raph’s eyes for a split second.

Raph gave him a furious glare, and mouthed,  _“I’m going to kill you.”_

Well. It was lovely to see him too.

Leo ignored his brother, same as he’d been ignoring Donnie, and stared ahead. Pretending not to see Raph’s continued fury.

 

 

 

He could only avoid Raph for so long though, since he knew his younger brother was made up of at least 50% sheer determination.

A few days later, Raph cornered him as he was leaving his room, for a washroom break, in the dead of night no less, and got Leo’s collar before Leo could even react. Leo was yanked down to eye level with Raph, and met the full brunt of Raph’s glare.

 _“You have._   _so much. fucking apologizing. to do.”_  Raph ground out in a furious whisper.

 _“Nice to see you too,”_  Leo said, also in a whisper.

 _“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up- I want to punch you in the nose so badly right now,”_ Raph hissed. Then he started tugging Leo along, ignoring Leo’s attempts to get away.  _“But Don says he doesn’t want me to, so you’re going to go apologize to him before I do.”_

Leo gave up trying to get away, and let his brother bully him out of the garrison. It was a miracle they didn’t get caught, slinking through the dark halls like they were. Leo just wasn’t sure why he was supposed to apologize to Donnie. He couldn’t think of anything he’d done recently that warranted it.

Maybe this was about the fight they’d all had, sometime after dad and Karai had left? Probably.

Raph pushed Leo out onto the roof of the garrison, and Leo adjusted his light jacket with a huff. Raph was just lucky Leo had still been dressed when his brother kidnapped him; otherwise Leo might’ve been a bit angrier that this was happening.

Mostly, he was concerned they’d all get caught breaking curfew. He didn’t need extra eyes on him, not when he was still pushing to make the top ten cadets, and  _still_  struggling to get below the thirties.

Donnie was hunched over a collection of computer equipment, because of course he was. Even with the long hair and makeup and what was probably a set of their sister’s earrings, Donnie  _always_  had technology on his person. That’s just how he was.

Donnie’s typing didn’t pause as Leo and Raph approached. Instead it seemed to speed up.

“Uh, hey…” Leo glanced around for any sign of their superiors, and found none on the empty rooftop. “Donnie. Hi. You wanted to talk to me?”

Donnie’s fingers sped up again, green code flying across the screen. When he spoke, his voice wasn’t pitched up like it usually was lately. “So you did know I was here.”

Leo blinked. “Well, yeah. I knew you were since the first day you got here.”

Donnie’s fingers finally stilled, and he tugged his large headphones down onto his neck. He turned his head, looking at Leo through his glasses. He wasn’t giving away any emotion. “Funny. You didn’t give me any sign that you knew.”

Leo shrugged, because he guessed that his acting had just been that good. “I was pretending not to.”

Donnie’s eyes narrowed, and his lips formed a thin line.

“What?” Leo asked. “What’s with the look?”

“Was it because of my cosmetic changes?” Donnie asked, tone careful.

Now Leo was really confused. “No…? Why would I ignore you just because you got extensions?”

At that point, Raph grabbed the back of Leo’s jacket, and shoved him forwards. “Oh for- you two need to stop dancing around it and just say it already! Donnie, since you won’t, _I’ll_ say it.”

“Say what?” Leo asked, trying to avoid getting caught again in Raph’s range.

His brother gave him a scowl, and growled out, “Donnie has been thinkin’ you didn’t recognize him because of all the feminine shit he’s got on. Further on that, he’s been feelings pretty lousy about the fact that his own fucking older brother couldn’t tell who he was,  _just because_  of said feminine shit.”

Leo opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again to hurriedly say, “I was just doing what I thought Donnie wanted me to! That’s the point of going undercover, right? I mean, the garrison threw him off base! Permanently! I just thought-”

“You still could have made an effort to acknowledge your own brother, undercover or not!” Raph shot back.

“I- I couldn’t risk it! The garrison has been watching me for months!” Leo defended himself. “I haven’t been able to figure out why, and they wouldn’t tell me anything about dad or Karai either-”

“That doesn’t. fucking.  _matter.”_  Raph growled. He reached out, and shoved Leo towards Donnie again. “Apologize!  _Now._  For being such an incredible  _idiot_.”

Raph crossed his arms, standing back to watch Leo and Donnie. He gave Leo a look that meant they weren’t going anywhere until this was over.

Leo sighed, and chanced a glance at Donnie. His younger brother was looking at him cautiously, and Leo noticed for the first time, there was an amount of hurt to his posture. Like he was curled onto himself, trying to protect his softer parts.

Oh. Shit.

“Donnie, I didn’t mean to,” Leo said honestly, kneeling down on the roof beside Donnie. “I really did think that’s what you wanted. I’m sorry I…”

“Ignored my very existence and feigned that you didn’t know me for close to two months now? Yeah. Thanks.”

Ouch. So Donnie was holding a bit of a grudge. Fair enough.

“Yeah,” Leo said lamely. “I’m sorry for all that.”

Donnie averted his eyes, looking back at his tech instead.

“Did you know me on sight?” Donnie asked, still staring only at his keyboard.

“From the second I saw you,” Leo said. He’d seen his brother walk in, hair long and glasses in place, and it’d only taken a second glance. “I was confused, but I knew it was you. Donnie, I wouldn’t ever not recognize you, I swear. Binder or no binder, I’ll be able to tell.”

Donnie blinked rapidly, and hastily raised a hand to scrub at his eyes. “Yeah. Well. You’re still a huge asshole.”

Leo reached out, and gave his brother a one armed hug. One he probably should have given a few weeks ago. Multiples times. “I know. I’m sorry I’m such an asshole. I’m trying to be less of one.”

“No you’re not,” Donnie mumbled, giving Leo’s side a light jab. Then his lanky arm wrapped around Leo’s waist, and held tight. “You’re a huge asshole  _and_  an idiot. Always have been.”

Leo winced. He guessed he deserved this right now, considering what he’d likely been putting Donnie through. “I have a lot of apologizing still, don’t I?”

“A shit ton,” Raph said, and Donnie hummed an agreement.

Leo sighed, and released Donnie from their hug. “That’s fair. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“Yeah you better,” Raph and Donnie muttered at the same time, both in low tones, only to crack up a split second later.

Leo rolled his eyes. “The twin thing got old when we were six, guys.”

“Shut up, you don’t get it because you’re an end child,” Donnie, and Raph, chorused. They shared grins, and Leo found himself feeling out numbered.

“I almost miss Mikey,” Leo said dryly. “At least he would’ve probably backed me up.”

 

 

 

Nice of Mikey to make that statement incorrect a few minutes later, when a ship fell out of the sky and Leo’s youngest brother set a portion of the desert on fire.

At least they got their sister back, even if things went south right afterwards.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm a bit fixated on this au right now, so short chapters should be popping up every few days.
> 
> also: after the starting events are over, the narrative will be shifting into snippets of things from all points along the timeline. it'll be faster, and i honestly just want to focus on specific things, not write a full length novel.


	3. It’s better with five, not four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with more!

 

 

“Oh you’ve got to be shitting me.”

Donnie looked away from the explosion in the distance, towards Leo, who was holding the one pair of binoculars they had. He adjusted his glasses, which had gotten dislodged in the shock of the desert suddenly being ablaze. “What? What is it?”

“It’s Mike!” Leo exclaimed, and Donnie raised an eyebrow at the growing anger in his brother’s tone. “I’d know those curls anywhere! That little shit!”

“What?! Gimme those, Leo- I wanna see too!” Raph made a grab for the binoculars, but Leo dodged away, already scrambling to get down the slope. Raph yelled, _“Leo! Wait!”_ after him, but Leo was already booking it for the bottom. Raph threw his hands up, growling, and gave chase.

Donnie was left blinking, and then he shook his head, and started running after his siblings.

So now they had Mikey in the mess too, apparently. That made all five of them. Beautiful.

Donnie left the cussing to his other siblings, and focused on using his long legs to cross the now deserted perimeter, and get to his older sister. She’d need medical attention likely speaking, and as much as Donnie wanted to let his panic and frustrations cloud his thoughts, he put those feelings aside for now.

By the time he got inside, Leo had already slung his arm underneath Karai’s free side, and was angrily talking at Mikey. At, not with, because Mikey was ignoring him.

Donnie’s attention zeroed in on the pale scar across his sister’s face, and her overall poor condition. Karai looked like she’d been through hell, and Donnie was momentarily overwhelmed by both relief that she was back, and by a spiralling question of just where she’d been.

And, just where their father was.

Donnie tried to get close enough to his siblings, tried to get to Karai and check her over properly- because those military fucks hadn’t even given her a once over, just sedated her like some animal and _if Donnie had Raph’s strength, he would’ve-_ but Raph’s strong arms pulled him away, and Donnie was forced to follow back outside again.

Mikey’s skimmer was waiting where he’d parked it, and as Donnie clambered on, he found himself tasked with keeping his unconscious sister from falling off. It gave him a chance to at least check her pulse- going strong, thank god- but then they were off, and he had to focus entirely on not being thrown off.

Not how he expected his evening to go, being chased down by the garrison forces. It was safe to say his cover was probably blown. But, with his sister clutched tight and breathing steadily and actually _there_ \- Donnie couldn’t have given less fucks.

 _“Mikey- give me the controls, you’re going to get us all killed! And where did you even get this thing?!”_ Leo was yelling over the wind, to which Mikey answered _“I bought it! And get off my back, I’m doing fine! Raph, lean left!”_

Donnie clenched his muscles, and swallowed a small shriek as their ride tilted violently leftwards.

Mikey and Leo were both fighting, and Donnie could hear Raph starting to get sick behind him, and Karai was still unconscious in his arms, and honestly-?

The only thing they were missing now was their father giving them stern glares and a reprimand for fighting while flying.

Ah family. Donnie had nearly forgotten how chaotic they could really be, gathered all together. This was very, very similar to some situations they’d gotten into as kids; if with admittedly higher stakes and more military involvement.

His reminiscing was then interrupted, because Mikey flung them straight off a cliff, and Donnie let loose the scream he’d been holding back.

 

 

 

 

“Out! _Out!”_ Donnie demanded, shoving his brothers out of the shack Mikey had brought them to. He ignored their protests, and slammed the door shut in their faces. He heard fighting start a second after, Leo’s voice and then Mikey’s and finally Raph’s- and Donnie couldn’t be assed to care. Sighing, Donnie locked the door, and turned back to his task.

His sister lay on the pullout couch, which was probably where Mikey slept, breathing quietly. Donnie was the only one with proper medical training- because he’d had some spare time one summer, and had felt like trying a new challenge- and it was up to him to make sure Karai didn’t have any life threatening injuries or extraterrestrial infections.

No pressure. Just that his sister’s life could be in his hands and on the off chance that she _wasn’t_ okay they wouldn’t be able to go to a hospital for help without getting arrested and Karai carted away again. Yup, no pressure. None at all.

Donnie dropped his jacket on the floor, grabbed the disinfectant wipes and first aid kit, and got to work.

First once over examination- her metal arm was located a second time. It wasn’t bleeding or causing Karai obvious pain, so Donnie set it aside. He could deal with that and its non-terrestrial technology origins later.

More pressing were the hundreds of scars, up and down his sister’s body. Every time he revealed another bit of skin, there were more. Some dark pink, showing that they were maybe only weeks old; others turning light silver, those ones being months old.

Donnie’s eyes stung as he carefully pulled his sister’s shirt back over her skin, laying her down again. The worst ones were on her back, and Donnie felt a maelstrom of fury and sadness at the sight of the thick scars.

But. Karai was breathing, for the most part intact, and didn’t seem to have any injuries in need of treatment. That was something at least.

Donnie hesitantly moved his hands to the metal arm, and wondered what he should do with it. A prosthesis of this complexity- there wasn’t anything like it on earth. The compounds in the metal didn’t seem to be from earth either, and that was even more mysterious.

A part of Donnie rejoiced- aliens were real! They existed and they were intelligent! He’d been hearing voices and radio chatter for weeks now, but there’d still been a doubt if they were real or not.

But, even as the curious part of Donnie was excited, the larger parts of him reeled with horror and grief. Aliens were real, and they’d kept his sister from them for a whole year. And, from the looks of things, put her through more than anyone should ever experience.

Even it was nonsensical and impossible, Donnie wished he could have found Karai sooner, and gotten her away from whatever had done this.

He slowly touched the palm of the prosthesis, wondering if had nerves or sensors to relay physical sensations- and jumped as it suddenly tightened around his fingers.

It was a painful grip for only a split second, but it released as a groggy _“Donnie…?”_ came from Karai.

Donnie’s relief swelled and he gripped Karai’s metal hand. “Yeah, it’s me. Welcome back, sis.”

She narrowed her light gold eyes, and then let out an even groggier- “What’s all that crap on your head? And- you’re wearing my earrings too. Okay. I’m definitely dreaming.” She smiled wryly. “It’s a nice change from the usual ones.”

“No- no I’m real, you’re home, Karai,” Donnie said, giving her hand another squeeze. “You made it home.”

Karai didn’t seem like she believed him, so Donnie slid an arm underneath her back, and helped ease her into a sitting position. “Look around, where does it look like you are?”

“In some decrepit shack,” She answered, and the dry tone in her voice comforted Donnie more than anything. Because that was just how Karai was, and he’d missed her fiercely. Karai blinked slowly, and seemed to finally shake off the last of the sedatives in her system.

As she looked again at Donnie, with clearer eyes and a new grasp on reality, she breathed, _“Donnie.”_

She raised her arms to wrap around him, but Donnie grabbed her in a hug first, and held tight as he could. Karai’s arms snaked around him right after, and even with the unfamiliar feeling of metal against his spine, it felt the same as it always had.

Karai let out a choked sound, and Donnie’s own breathing hitched.

She was home, and Donnie was holding her. Karai was on earth and real and Donnie had her in his arms. He didn’t plan on letting go of her ever again.

About a second later, the door behind them popped open, Mikey rushing in as he dropped what looked like lock picking tools- and Donnie and Karai’s hug was joined by their youngest sibling, Mikey’s arms latching onto both of them desperately. Leo and Raph followed closely, and Donnie couldn’t even feel mad that they’d all probably been watching through the windows.

His elder brother and his twin’s arms went around them all, and Donnie felt like something was slotting back into place. They hadn’t been together in months- hadn’t been _whole_ in months. Not without Karai, not without their father.

He’d missed this more than he would ever admit. The chaos, the closeness. His family.

Donnie buried his wet cheeks in his big sister’s shoulder, ignoring the smudges he was getting on his glasses, and held tight as they all wrapped themselves around her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If think that was an adventure for the Hamatos, you should have been there the one time they almost burned down the local farmer's market and caused a stampede of goats and children.


	4. Loneliness was almost preferable.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> all five siblings are together again, but fuck, is that a giant lion?

 

 

“Okay, I admit it. This is _super_ freaky.”

Mikey privately rolled his eyes at Leo, and tried to focus on Raph and Donnie, who were playing at being the tech-twins yet again.

Even though they’d been apart for over a year, his brothers had fallen right back into step with each other like it was nothing. Even with Donnie’s… interesting choice of look at the moment.

It kept tripping him up, honestly; seeing Donnie with long hair instead of his usual choppy short cut. And the _earrings,_ they were totally distracting, because Donnie had never worn earrings before. Even prior to transitioning.

Mikey side-eyed Leo as they kept pace after Raph and Donnie- which was actually sort of hard, because despite having short legs, Raph could really motor when he felt like it, and Donnie was part fucking giraffe.

Mikey hadn’t seen Leo since the garrison. No contact at all, let alone face to face conversation. Mikey wasn’t entirely sure why his brother had cut contact like that, but he supposed he hadn’t exactly tried to reach out either. None of them had, actually, far as he knew.

Things had just… fallen apart without their dad and sister around. Mikey wasn’t even sure what had really caused it, just that it had happened, and then it’d been one fight after another…

Up ahead, he saw Raph and Donnie disappear into a cave entrance, and decided to pick up the pace. He saw Leo do the same, aiming a look at Mikey as he did, and Mikey bit down a frustrated sigh. Even with Karai back in their group, Mikey could already feel a fight brewing between him and Leo.

Why? Fuck if Mikey knew. Leo picked shit with him all the time lately. Had for the last few years.

Mikey sort of missed his quiet shack, as lonely as it’d been sometimes.

But, Karai was back, and he had his techier brothers to help him solve a puzzle he’d been stuck on for months. It was definitely progress.

The knife, wrapped up and hidden in it’s sheathe, weighed heavily on Mikey’s hips. Reminding him part of why he’d been so distant from his family the last while. Maybe he’d get a chance later to ask Karai if she knew about it- all the files he’d found in their house’s attic last time he was there, and what the glowing symbol on the blade meant.

Later, though. Right now they had to find this ‘ _Voltron’_ thing before the military found them.

Mikey’s boots skidded on the stones as he leapt down the short incline towards the cave, and he heard Leo almost wipeout as he copied. Karai however had perfect balance as she followed, not slipping up at all or even breathing heavily. Whatever she’d been through in space, it’d only served to make her reflexes even better than before.

Mikey wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, and he was leaning towards not.

Donnie and Raph were already inside the cave as Mikey entered, staring up at the carvings set into the stone. Even in the gloom of the cave, all the markings stood out perfectly.

Karai came to a stop beside Mikey, and put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the carven. “What are these?”

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you all about,” Mikey explained, looking up at the top of the cave. “They’re everywhere around here.”

He’d found this specific cave a few times, actually. For all the good it’d done him in figuring out what any of it meant. Something was _here_ though, in this area of the desert, he could feel just feel it. Somewhere.

“Fascinating…” Donnie commented in a mumble, passing his hands over the walls. Raph was still fiddling with the device he’d made from tech in Donnie’s bag and what _had_ been Mikey’s kitchen radio, and only had a mumbled _“Sure, sure.”_ to add to things.

Then, Mikey almost jumped as the cavern lit up with pale blue light, eliciting gasps from everyone around him. He stared up at the markings, now even more clear to see. The light was eerie, and didn’t seem to have any power source, seeing as it was all solid stone.

“They’ve _never_ done that before,” He said, eyes darting from carving to carving. He’d been here at least four times, and they’d never-

Mikey felt the ground suddenly give under his feet, and he cried out as the floor swallowed him and his family.

 

 

 

 

One slippery, soaking slide later, and Mikey was pushing his sopping black curls out of his face. He should’ve gone to the barber’s last week like he’d planned- his hair was really getting out of control.

At least he wasn’t in Donnie’s boat. Donnie was struggling with his long hair, seeing as he’d taken it out of his braid earlier while he was fidgeting. Anxiously switching between hovering over Raph’s shoulder while he built the Geiger counter, and checking Karai’s physical status again and again.

At least that hadn’t changed. Donnie was still a hyper-aware maniac, who couldn’t let go of his tech or concerns even if you held him at gun point.

Mikey shoved the last of his curls out of his face, and noticed, somehow for the first time, that there was a giant fucking _lion_ in the room.

“Is this it?” Donnie asked in a soft voice, finally freeing himself of his hair. He stood up, hauling Raph with him. “Is this the Voltron?”

Karai went to stand with them, and Mikey followed. They were all staring at the lion now. Karai’s voice was awed as she spoke. “It… it _must_ be. What else could it be?”

Mikey shook off his own awe, and added, “This must’ve been what’s causing all this crazy energy around here.”

He stepped out of the shallow pool they were all standing in, and headed towards the giant lion. It only got bigger as he approached, and he had to crane his neck to look at its face. And the clear, glowing mesh that surrounded it… “It looks like there’s a force field around it.”

“Okay, but does anyone else get the feeling it’s staring at them?” Leo asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“No…?” Karai replied, accompanied by negative hums from Donnie and Raph.

“Well, the eyes are totally following _me_. I’m not imagining it.”

Mikey ignored the chatter his siblings were making, and instead put his hands on the force field experimentally. It didn’t burn or sting like he’d expected it would, instead only making the surface ripple. Mikey grimaced, and looked up at the unreachable lion. “Shit. How are we supposed to get through this?”

He needed answers, a lot of answers, and the answers were now inside an unbreachable bubble. Great.

“Maybe we should just knock or something?” Leo suggested, walking up to the force field beside Mikey. He knocked twice on the bubble, and then both Leo and Mikey jumped back as it responded to the knocks.

The force field disintegrated upwards in a shower of blue light and sparks, and the lion’s eyes lit up as something rumbled through the air of the cave. Mikey stumbled back, and for a split second, saw something other than his surroundings.

_-soaring through the air, five pilots one mind, united and strong and prepared to-_

Mikey blinked, and the vision of the five lions was gone.

“Okay, everyone just see that?” Leo said, shaking his head free of whatever that’d been for them all. So Mikey wasn’t the only one then.

“Holy fuck-” Raph exclaimed, grabbing Donnie’s arm and pulling him down to exclaim again, “-Voltron is a robot! A huge, _awesome_ robot!”

Donnie seemed just as wide-eyed, also grabbing Raph in his excitement. “And this thing is only one part of it! Oh my god! But- I wonder where the rest of them are?”

And then Karai said _“This is what they’re looking for”_ because oh yeah, aliens are still a thing and a threat, and Mikey said _“Incredible”_ because what else was there to say-

-except then the lion started moving and they all panicked.

 

 

 

 

Mikey was _really_ missing his shack now, holding on for dear life as his eldest brother spun them through the air like a maniac.

 _“You- are the worst- pilot-_ ever!” Mikey shouted over Donnie and Raph’s screaming.

Karai meanwhile was holding herself up fine, only slightly panicked seeming, while Donnie’s long limbs were knocking into everyone as he clutched at hand holds, and Raph’s thicker ones found a death grip on Mikey’s waist and Leo’s shoulder.

Leo scoffed at everyone, and Mikey’s instinct to yank his brother’s hands off the controls increased.

“Isn’t this awesome?” Leo asked, _clearly_ having the time of his life as they bounded through the desert in a giant lion.

 _“Make it stop! Make it stop!”_ Was Raph’s response to that, echoed similarly by Donnie’s high-pitched yell as he tried to keep himself stable.

“I’m not making it do anything, it’s like its on autopilot!” Leo said, as though that wouldn’t be a problem.

The futuristic cat robot had an autopilot, and it was stuck on it. While they were _inside it._

Mikey was considering _again_ making a grab for the controls, when the whole cockpit tilted violently, and Leo launched them onto the air.

“Where are you going?!” Mikey shouted, trying to keep hold of the seat even as Raph’s bulk tried to drag him off it.

“I just told you-” Leo said in a _“duh”_ sort of tone. “-it’s on _autopilot!”_

They rose higher into the clouds, heading straight for what Mikey was sure was the stratosphere. Things leveled out, thankfully, and Raph’s grip around Mikey’s waist loosened. They all reasserted their footing, and Mikey stopped having to clutch the pilot’s seat to stand.

“It says there’s an alien ship approaching earth,” Leo said, because apparently the lion was still _talking_ to him. “I think we’re supposed to stop it somehow.”

“Okay, what did it _say_ exactly?” Donnie demanded, shoving again his dishevelled hair out of his face. Wow that looked like it was annoying to take care of.

“Well it’s not like its saying _words_ , actually. More like its feeding info right into my brain? Kind of?”

 _“Oh my god,”_ Karai whispered despairingly under her breath. Mikey shared the sentiment, and gave their brother a glare.

“Well if this is the weapon they’re coming for, couldn’t we just give it to them?” Raph suggested, gesturing around at the darkening sky and the cockpit. “I mean, if we do, maybe they won’t _blow us up,_ and go away? I’m all for picking fights, but hey, I also _really like being alive._ ”

“You don’t _understand,”_ Karai said, suddenly bristling as she looked over at Raph. “These monsters spread like a _plague_ throughout the whole galaxy, destroying _everything in their path._ There’s no bargaining with them, they won’t stop until everything is _dead.”_

Donnie and Raph gave Karai a surprised look, thrown by her sudden intensity, and even Leo leaned away from their sister.

“Oh.” Raph said shortly. He hunched his shoulders sheepishly. “Never mind then.”

Mikey rolled his eyes at all of his siblings combined, and turned his head towards the viewpoint again.

They were in space now, for real. The earth’s horizon disappeared as they flew higher, and then it was nothing but darkness and empty space-

-until a giant alien warship materialized out of nowhere, and then off they went again into insanity.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter: aliens.
> 
> (fuck yes)


	5. Things change, except they don't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not dead, still a thing, just got distraaaaaaaaacted.

 

 

There was a pause of relieved silence, when they all exited the wormhole and left the Galra ship behind. Karai breathed out a silent sigh, and let some of her instinctive panic drain away. Whatever had happened to her on that ship, it hadn’t been good, and seeing it again had caused an uncontrollable swell of fear in her.

Karai brushed her bangs out of her face, tucking the shock of white back behind her ear, and got ready to call a sound off of her brothers’ conditions. But before she could-

“I can’t believe we’re in space,” Leo said in a quiet, but definitely excited voice.

There was a beat of silence, and then everyone groaned.

“What? We are!” Leo said, gesturing at the planet their giant apparently semi-sentient lion was flying them towards. “This is incredible, we’re about to land on an _alien planet._ You can’t tell me none of you are excited about this.”

Karai shook her head, and reached out to muss Leo’s short hair. “I almost forgot, you’re a total space nerd.”

Donnie made a distressed sound, face palming. “We’re billions- probably trillions, if not _quadrillions-_ of light years from earth, stuck in a giant alien robot that may or may not be leading us right to our doom, we have no way home, and oh-” He shoved his tangling, damp hair out of his face. “-I’m still _wet._ So no, I am _not_ excited, Leo.”

“Well sor _ry,_ ” Leo said, hunching his shoulders. “I just thought that at least one of you guys would be. We _were_ all training to do this sort of thing.”

“I was only there because Donnie sent the most cryptic email in existence,” Raph said, and Karai could hear her brother rolling his eyes. “I would’ve been perfectly happy just staying on earth.”

“And I quit the garrison,” Mikey added with a shrug. “So I dunno about Karai, but I’m pretty sure none of us want to be here in this mess you got us into, Leo.”

And there was Leo’s responding bristle. “Excuse you, I had nothing to do with this,” Leo said snappishly, trying to turn his head away from flying them to glare at Mikey. Karai grabbed the sides of his head, and forced Leo to remain focused. “This thing has a mind of its own, and I have no control over it taking us down right now.”

“You say that like it’s supposed to be comforting,” Donnie muttered, sparking similarly muttered agreements from Raph and Mikey, and starting off Leo’s irritations again.

Karai clapped her hands together loudly, snapping her four very endearing, but very frustrating siblings’ attentions back to her. “Okay, so we’re going to fight later and land now, alright?” Karai wasn’t really asking a question. That was more so an order. “We’re about to break the stratosphere, so I’d like to think you could all get your collective shits together long enough that we don’t die on an alien planet. Can you all act like reasonable adults until then?” She gave her brothers a stern look each. “That wasn’t a suggestion.”

Her brothers all dropped their eyes away, mumbling yeses and okays, and Karai sighed. Nice to see that even with an enormous and unsettling amount of her memories missing, the year she’d lost hadn’t really changed her family.

Well, maybe a little. She didn’t recall Leo and Mikey fighting quite this much, _or_ Mikey making plans to drop out of pilot training. Or Donnie having more hair than all of them combined. Or _earrings._

Raph seemed to have remained the same. Gruff but concerned, as always. That was one thing that Karai could hold onto for _some_ sense of normalcy. Now if Karai’s head would stop throbbing now and then, and she could tone down the awareness of her _arm_ _being gone and replaced by alien metal,_ and she could remember what the _hell_ had happened to her all these months… she’d probably feel better about everything.

Like the fact that they were nearing the planet’s surface, and they still had no control over that. Leo could level them out, prevent their entrance from being at a tilt that made Raph look greenish, but Karai’s brother could turn them back around. Not that there was really anything to go back towards… the stars surrounding them were completely foreign to Karai, and they probably wouldn’t get lucky with a wormhole again.

And then there was the Galra warship bearing down on earth, searching for the lion robot they’d just barely escaped in…

Karai’s head gave a throb, trying to think of the Galra. She didn’t even have context for the ill feeling in her gut, but she very nearly gave a full body shudder at them. Her shoulder ached, and she was still adjusting to how her new arm felt. It was weird, and uncomfortable, but also… something that she felt like she’d had for a while, and only just noticed.

Karai took all those thoughts, and bundled them up for much later. Much, much later. Focus. She needed to focus on making sure her brothers didn’t all get their untrained selves killed. Martial artists they may be, but deep space explorers they were not.

Karai felt Mikey push his way to the front, knocking his elbow against Karai’s side and then Leo’s back of head. Donnie and Raph were pressing themselves to the windows, watching avidly- and with trepidation- as the ground got closer. The two sets of conversations brought a smile to her lips, despite their dire circumstances.

She might not have remembered the year she lost, but she could _feel_ the length of time since she saw them. Her four very rowdy, very stupid, very lovable brothers.

They were a long ways from home, but Karai felt like she’d gotten back a piece of it anyways. Four pieces, in fact. And those four pieces were enough to give her strength to push away the fear for their missing father, and for…

Shini.

Karai repressed the swell of aching worry, and forced herself to remain present. Drifting off right now would get one or all of her brothers killed, and Karai as well. She needed to be vigilant and at the ready, especially since they tended to attract disaster when they were all together.

Karai sent up a quick prayer that today would be one of the few times they _didn’t_ bring every conceivable disaster onto themselves. Please, for the love of god. There were already so many things going wrong, they didn’t need _more._

Karai’s eyes went wide as they flew over a swell of hills, and an enormous structure came into view. The white steeples stood out against the peaceful, rather earth like landscape. Spiraling towers coming straight out of an ocean cliff side, pristine and totally… alien.

That was a pun. Dammnit. Mikey’s old tendency towards puns was still sticking to her; Karai never could fully shake it.

“Is that a castle?” Leo asked, then grumbling as Mikey, Donnie, and Raph all tried to shove their way to the front window. As the three of them did, they nearly squished Karai completely, and she took the elbows and shoulders to her bodily person with a single sigh, and a sense of tired fondness.

Ah, family. That was one thing that never did changed.

Karai repressed a smile, and started to shove her brothers away. Time to whip them into semi-functional order, and see what new problems were waiting for them on the ground.

 

 

 

First thing Karai noticed as they disembarked was that they could breathe. That was a pleasant occurrence, since there were exactly zero air tanks in the giant space cat.

The next was that the winds were very strong around the seaside castle, and that Donnie clearly regretted taking his hair out of its braid earlier. His long hair got whipped up in the gusts of wind, and flew right around to smack him in the face. His exclamation of dismay and frustration was almost as funny as his flailing to remove the hair from his mouth.

“I swear to god, I’m just going to _rip these stupid extensions out,”_ Donnie half shouted, yanking his hair out of his face. Mikey started snickering, which set off Leo, which set off Raph, and Donnie turned on all of them a ruddy cheeked glare. “Oh yeah, ha fucking ha, laugh at the idiot who put up with this for months because you’re all disconnected assholes. Brilliant plan. I’ll see that you’re plagued by spam mail for the rest of your days.”

 _“_ Oh for- Donnie, bend down,” Karai said, shoving a still snickering Mikey out of the way. Donnie turned his embarrassed glare on her, and she stood with her arms crossed. “You heard me. Bend down. We don’t have time for you to fuss with your air, and if you get distracted during a fight you’re screwed. Bend down so I can braid it again.”

Leo coughed something that suspiciously sounded like a joke about hairballs and angry cats, and Donnie shot him a furious look. “I will _ruin_ your online life, Leo,” Donnie hissed. “Don’t tempt me. You _know_ I could.”

Karai snapped her fingers, and resisted the urge to kick the back of Donnie’s knees so he would just bend already. “ _Bend,_ Donnie. Or better yet, just get on the ground. You’re too tall for me to do this any other way.”

Donnie grumbled, finally electing to ignore the laughter from their siblings, and knelt down so Karai could reach his hair without cramping her arms.

The black strands were tangled pretty badly, but Karai had been dealing with Shini’s hair for years. She knew how to handle wily long hair, even after exposure to zero gravity and space adventures. Karai gently tugged the hair into order, and set about braiding it into something that would hold up in a fight. If they had more time, she’d suggest cutting it off, but Karai didn’t have any tools with her to do so.

It was weird, feeling but not quite feeling with her metal arm. Only her flesh hand could feel the textures of the hair; her metal one only picked up that something was there and that she was touching it. It was… unsettling. A bit sad as well, since it wasn’t something she could change.

“Hey, Don,” Raph asked suddenly, eyeing the castle warily. “How high are our chances that this is a trap and we’re all about to die?”

“Aren’t you cheery today,” Karai said, tightening the last parts of the braid in her hands. She held out a hand to Mikey, and crooked her finger. “Elastic, please.”

“Astronomically high,” Donnie replied to Raph with a heavy sigh. “And before you ask, the chances of us getting home in one piece, or even at all, are sitting in the negatives right now. We’re hooped and all I can say is that I should have expected this sort of insane ending, dealing with you four.”

“I don’t know, maybe thing will work out,” Leo said, staring up at the lion robot. “I mean, she got us all here, and kept us safe from that battleship, so… I think we’re doing okay? No one’s dead, and no one’s come outside to shoot us or anything. Maybe our luck will hold.”

Raph reached out and smacked Leo’s shoulder. “Well _now_ it won’t, since you went and jinxed us.”

Mikey scoffed at both of them, and produced an elastic from his pockets. Karai knew her brother always had one on him; something to play with in his hands when he got twitchy. “If we all die, it’s on Leo,” Mikey said offhandedly, handing Karai the elastic. “Not me.”

“No one is _dying,”_ Karai said in her most big sisterly voice, the one she always needed to use on her brothers when they were looking to start trouble. She tied off Donnie’s long braid, and patted his head. “There you go, Donnie. All done. And now we go inside and _not_ die, and see what all…” She gestured at the castle. “ _This_ is about.”

Donnie stood up, running a hand down the braid now holding his hair back. He gave Karai a small smile, looking down at her with a grateful expression. “Thanks,” Donnie said, dropping the braid and pushing his glasses back up his nose. “It was really starting to annoy me. I don’t know how Shini does it.”

Karai thought about her missing friend, and shook her head at the twinge of pain. “Honestly, I have no idea either. It’s short hair or no hair for me.”

“You’d look pretty badass with a buzz cut,” Mikey commented thoughtfully. “Channel some Furiosa or somethin’.”

Karai scoffed. “I’ll do it when you do it, Mike. See how you look without those curls of yours.”

“I think I’d look damn good,” Mikey replied, tossing his hair dramatically. “Better than you or Leo do, at least.”

“Wow, rude,” Leo said, raising an eyebrow. “At least our hair is military approved; you got three demerits one time just because you couldn’t get your helmet on within a reasonable amount of time.”

Mikey turned on Leo, and looked ready to start yet another catfight between them both, but Raph’s interjection stopped the fight before it could begin. “Can we focus on the alien castle matter?” Raph said, pointing at the imposing structure. “Because that’s still a thing, and just because no one’s shooting us yet doesn’t mean they _won’t.”_

Right. Castle, aliens, mystery to solve. Fun times.

Karai squared her shoulders, and stood up straight. No more time for sibling banter; they had important things to attend to. “Alright you four, fall in and don’t get lost. The first thing we need to do is find a way in, maybe a side door or-”

The ground rumbled suddenly, and the wide front doors to the castle began to open. The huge hallway revealed inside slowly lit up with torches, coming up as the light of day spilled into the corridor.

“Ooooor we could go through the front door,” Karai said, pursing her lips. She did _not_ like where this was heading.

“We’re all going to die,” Donnie muttered belligerently as they started towards the doorway. “And I have to do while wearing _extensions_.”

“Cheer up, Donnie,” Karai said, patting her brother’s shoulder. “You look alright now that it’s out of your face.”

Donnie’s responding groan brought an indulgent smile to Karai’s lips once more, and she gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze. He’d put up with a lot the last while, all for her and their family. The steadfast loyalty and care Donnie gave their family never seemed to falter, even with the fights he and their siblings had on and off over the years. The months using his old pronouns must have been rough, and Karai sympathized with her brother’s troubles.

She’d sit down and spend some time with him later, maybe help get those extensions out. For now though…

Karai steadied herself and her nerves, and led her brothers into the cavernous hallway of the castle. Unsure of who, or what, they’d find there.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love big sis karai. canon can eat my socks for the weird incest dance they keep doing; gimme big sister karai any day of the week.
> 
> next time: presenting her highness april, and her companion who-let-this-boy-into-the-castle-in-the-first-place.

**Author's Note:**

> *shimmies* boy i need to stop making more AU's when i've already got like fifteen


End file.
